Ask Bill and Josh Q&A Thread

**Andy** · 10-21-2005, 08:48 PM

Please note that if you post in this thread, it WILL NOT appear right away (we may also reserve the right to withhold questions that are not as appropriate or repetitive). We are screening the posts in this thread, so please only post your questions once!

Back in 2002, the NHC was given a very special opportunity to hold a Q&A session with Simpsons executive producer Al Jean. Now, three years later, we just might be ready to top that.

We've got a couple of guys here you might know... they go by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. They wrote some episodes. They ran the show in seasons 7 and 8. And yeah, they also had that great show Mission Hill. And they're here, and they just might answer questions you might have.

Guidelines

1. Limit three questions per person per 24-hour period. If a person has already asked a question, please do not ask it again (even if it wasn't answered). Please note that not every question can be answered; it's up to Bill and Josh's discretion as to how many questions they will answer.

2. Keep questions appropriate. Only the appropriate questions will be displayed. We'd like to have as many questions about season 7 as possible, as this is the next DVD set to come out.

3. No flash photography.

4. If Poochie isn't around, everybody must ask, "where's Poochie?"

Enjoy!

**Semaj** · 10-21-2005, 09:05 PM

Bill & Josh:

1) When you took over the show in 1995, what kind of stortytelling style did you try to establish?

2) Where did the writers get most of their ideas from?

3) Have you ever thought about returning to Springfield?

barts friend · 10-21-2005, 09:06 PM

What will the alternate season seven box look like? Around what time will season eight be out? Could you tell us anybody that will be doing commentaries on season eight?
thanks

**paul auster** · 10-21-2005, 09:25 PM

Will you have anything to do with the Simpsons Movie?

**vox** · 10-21-2005, 09:31 PM

Me and a friend, let's call him... Sloppy J. No, that's too obvious. S Jimbo. We were wondering:

Other than the two episodes he showran, how much influence did David Mirkin have on the show in season 7?

Who makes the ultimate decision when it comes to picking a new showrunner?

My final question is a joint question. I would like to know, is Smithers gay, where is Springfield, does my ass look big in this and are you really the Head of the Kwik-E-Mart?

Really.

Thank you for your time.

**Green_Peaness** · 10-21-2005, 09:34 PM

Wow!

1) In the episodes "Homer's Enemy" and "Lisa the Simpson," it has been said that there may be a thematic connection between their main plots and subplots. Was this just a coincidence or was this a conscious decision of the writers?

2) Who was your favorite guest star when you were showrunners?

3) What is your favorite episode from season 7?

**bovine_university** · 10-21-2005, 09:45 PM

Were there any plotlines or stories that you two came up with either as writers or EP's that didn't make it into the show one way or another, and why?

Were there any celebrities that you two really wanted to have appear on the Simpsons but couldn't?

How have your experiences with working on the Simpsons helped you with your projects since, or have they at all?

**jwbph** · 10-21-2005, 09:45 PM

Was there anything you guys consciously changed when you took over the show?

What are your favorite lines or scenes from the run of the show?

**Dark Homer** · 10-21-2005, 09:51 PM

Was the "look" of Mission Hill pure Lauren MacMullen?

**thrilling bargains** · 10-21-2005, 10:14 PM

How much input did you guys had in season 9 as creative consultants, and roughly what percentage of your ideas leftover from s8 were used in s9?

Do you feel that Greg Daniels leaving The Simpsons to do King of the Hill was a particuarly significant loss for the show, or is it always like that when someone leaves?

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

**SideshowTim** · 10-21-2005, 10:36 PM

you guys have done the only double episode feature of the simpsons, was it easy to put all the pieces of the episode together and what inspired you to do a 2 parter?

**Nameless** · 10-21-2005, 10:37 PM

Why were you chosen as showrunners?
What's your favourite THOH?

**Ihaveblink** · 10-21-2005, 10:54 PM

1. Do you guys still watch the show, and has anything surprised you about the new episodes?

2. What are your feelings toward Family Guy? Simpsons rip-off or misunderstood?

3. If you were asked to come back to the Simpsons would you?

**Binky** · 10-21-2005, 11:12 PM

Any upcoming projects you're working on?

**Random Viewer Guy** · 10-21-2005, 11:25 PM

Are there any jokes in The Simpsons or Mission Hill that you don't think any of the fans "got"?
If a fan came up to you, somehow managed to recognize you on the street, and started asking you about fifty questions in a row about The Simpsons, would you answer them or would you just be annoyed?
Do you have any funny stories about animation mistakes (storyboard, animatic or otherwise) to share?

**DotheBartman** · 10-22-2005, 12:34 AM

First off, it's awesome that you're taking the time to do this. Many thanks.

1. Looking back at your years on the show (especcially the years you ran), what were some of the goals you had that you think you really accomplished as well or better then you had hoped? Any goals that you didn't get to or that you feel could have gone better?

2. Were there any episodes ideas you had that you never got around to using, or discarded for other reasons?

3. You guys did some consulting on "Futurama" at one point. What kind of contributions did you make to it?

**eric** · 10-22-2005, 08:51 AM

That's enough questions for now; we don't want to overwhelm the guys.

**billoakley** · 10-24-2005, 12:58 PM

Hey, everybody!
Bill and Josh speaking:

It's really fun to be here and thanks to NHC for this opportunity.

And thank you guys for all your questions.

We're going to answer your posts in the order they appeared, one by one.

It'll probably take us a couple of days to catch up with all the questions asked so far. But the good news is, there's no time limit. We'll just keep answering until you get sick of us, or vice-versa.

Josh will answer some, Bill will answer others but the replies come from both of us.

So here we go....

**billoakley** · 10-24-2005, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by barts friend

What will the alternate season seven box look like? Around what time will season eight be out? Could you tell us anybody that will be doing commentaries on season eight?
thanks

1. Sorry, we haven't seen the alternate box yet. But I assume it'll be in keeping with the style of the Season 1-5 boxes.

2-3. I am not sure when Season Eight will be out but I can tell you we have not even started recording the commentaries for it, so probably at least six months. But we'll keep you updated.

**billoakley** · 10-24-2005, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by deathdrivesastick

Will you have anything to do with the Simpsons Movie?

No, we're not involved with the Simpsons Movie.

**billoakley** · 10-24-2005, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by Vox Nerduli

Me and a friend, let's call him... Sloppy J. No, that's too obvious. S Jimbo. We were wondering:

Other than the two episodes he showran, how much influence did David Mirkin have on the show in season 7?

Who makes the ultimate decision when it comes to picking a new showrunner?

My final question is a joint question. I would like to know, is Smithers gay, where is Springfield, does my ass look big in this and are you really the Head of the Kwik-E-Mart?

Really.

Thank you for your time.

1. Other than the episodes he showran, Dave consulted one day per week on Season Seven, usually on the day of the table reading. He would help with the rewrite and pitch new jokes. He also spent some time helping Josh and myself learn the technical side (editing, mixing, etc.) of the job. He was incredibly fun to have around and a very valuable part of the show.

2. I can't say for sure, because it's probably different in every case, but I believe the contractual authority rests with James L. Brooks. But in the cases I am familiar with, the outgoing showrunner would present his choice to Jim Brooks and Richard Sakai and Matt G. I don't know (and don't believe) that Fox has any input.

3. This is an awesome question. You have brightened our day.

**billoakley** · 10-24-2005, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by FuzzyWuzzyWuzABear

Wow!

1) In the episodes "Homer's Enemy" and "Lisa the Simpson," it has been said that there may be a thematic connection between their main plots and subplots. Was this just a coincidence or was this a conscious decision of the writers?

2) Who was your favorite guest star when you were showrunners?

3) What is your favorite episode from season 7?

1. This was purely coincidental in both cases. (Perhaps it was subconscious?)

2. There's a lot of talk about this topic on the DVD commentaries so we don't want to spoil it, but here are a few:

FAV. PERFORMANCE: Donald Sutherland, R. Lee Ermey
FAV. GUYS TO HANG OUT WITH: John Waters, Dave Thomas
GREAT IN BOTH CATEGORIES: Jeff Goldblum

3. Bill -- 22 Short Films, Fish Called Selma, Summer of 4 Ft. 2
Josh -- Marge Be Not Proud, Bart Sells His Soul

**joshweinstein** · 10-24-2005, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by Semaj

Bill & Josh:

1) When you took over the show in 1995, what kind of stortytelling style did you try to establish?

2) Where did the writers get most of their ideas from?

3) Have you ever thought about returning to Springfield?

Hey Semaj!

Good questions -- the first one we answer in detail on the commentary for "Home Sweet Diddly,etc." the first episode we showran in Season 7, so I'll be brief on that one:

1) STORYTELLING: We were huge fans of the show before we started working on it in Season 3 -- even before we worked on it, we felt it was the best. show. ever. -- so we didn't want to change the already excellent storytelling style that was established by Matt/Jim/Sam/Mike/Al and the other guys. One of the reasons The Simpsons works so well is that the stories are based on some sort of reality and the characters responses to the situations are based on real emotions, so the show is a lot more "real" than most sitcoms. I think that's a major reason for the show's universal appeal.

So our goal was to tell stories that hadn't yet been told on the show. Also, we felt that by season 7, we could start exploring other characters in Springfield in more depth. We also felt we could start pushing the envelope a little more, like with 3-D Homer and "22 Short Films".

I guess our biggest philosophy about storytelling is: the more involved a viewer is in the story, the more they will like the jokes and everything else that comes with it. So we wanted to tell very involving, entertaining stories.

A side note about this: we agree with those of you who have said that sometimes we got too bogged down in the story -- it didn't happen a lot, but I can see in hindsight which episodes I would've "picked up the pace" on.

2) IDEAS - This sounds bogus, but it's true -- ideas can come from anywhere. Sometimes, it's from a news story (the gambling episode was based on an article we read about a small town in the US that was considering legalizing riverboat gambling casinos). Sometimes, it's based on a writer's personal experience -- something similar to "Bart Sells His Soul" actually happened to Greg Daniels (you can hear the full, crazy story on the commentary for that one.) And "Marge Be Not Proud" was based on something that really happened to Mike Scully (he tells it much better on the commentary). Sometimes, it's based on people we knew or encountered -- part of the basis of "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Sweeeeeet, etc." was based on the sad lives of teachers we had in our school (Bill and I went to high school together.) Sometimes, stories were even based on criticism of the show -- Poochie was sort of based on that, among other things.

3) Have we ever thought of returning? We're over at Fox a lot doing our commentaries and whenever we are, I have to say an old, sappy fondness kicks in. We see Matt, Mirkin, and a bunch of the writers we worked with and a bunch of the animators we worked with and it does bring up good memories. The crazy communal feel of working on the show, the fact that we could do anything, tell any story we wanted and work with some of the funniest people ever -- these are all things we miss.

But we are pretty happy doing our own thing -- we're writing a pilot for a one-hour dramedy for CBS and we're just finishing up a movie we wrote for the actor Seann William Scott, and it's a real pleasure to be able to do these sort of things. But if they asked us, we would absolutely consider it.

Whoo! Are you bored yet?

**billoakley** · 10-25-2005, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by bovine_university

Were there any plotlines or stories that you two came up with either as writers or EP's that didn't make it into the show one way or another, and why?

Were there any celebrities that you two really wanted to have appear on the Simpsons but couldn't?

How have your experiences with working on the Simpsons helped you with your projects since, or have they at all?

Dude, your Bovine University link isn't working. Just so you know.

1. The great thing about the Simpsons is that we pretty much were able to get away with everything, so there weren't any episodes we REALLY wanted to do that we couldn't do. Even the crazy high-concept ones like Two Bad Neighbors and Frank Grimes we managed to put on the air because honestly there were no network execs there to stop us. I can tell you four episodes that never did get done for other reasons:
SEASON THREE: "Thirtysimpsons" by David Stern. A "thirtysomething" style look at Homer and Marge's marriage, as contrasted by some yuppies who move in next door. It just wasn't the style of the show, and much of the material got put into other episodes.
SEASON FIVE: The Prince Episode by Conan O'Brien. An entire episode was written to showcase an appearance by Prince. But it turned out Prince was on a completely different wavelength (imagine!) and actually had a friend of his write a script for the episode instead. No reconciliation was ever reached and the episode never happened.
SEASON SEVEN: Greg Daniels pitched an episode about racism in Springfield. It never got pastthe planning stages because the topic was just too incendiary to be dealt with effectively. (We talk about this on one commentary this year; Greg didn't even remember pitching it.)
SEASON EIGHT: A hilarious and fully worked out story by George Meyer. I can't reveal the subject

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Ask Bill and Josh Q&A Thread

Hello from Bill and Josh

Answering Semaj!